As a pastor Spurgeon would often reference the biblical role of family worship in the home. Preaching from Acts 16:14 on September 20, 1891, Spurgeon addressed “Lydia, the First European Convert,” by saying,

If the gospel does not influence our homes, it is little likely to make headway amongst the community. God has made family piety to be, as it were, a sort of trade-mark on religion in Europe; for the very first convert brings with her all her family…You shall notice in Europe, though I do not mean to say that it is not the same anywhere else, that true godliness has always flourished in proportion as family religion has been observed.[1]

He believed that godliness advanced in a community, whether it is a church or nation, in proportion to the godliness practiced in the homes. Worship practiced, or religion as the term was used in his day, had as much if not more credibility in the home than in the church. The practice of family worship was an expectation on a godly family.

Later in his sermon on Acts 16:14, Spurgeon went on to say,

‘But there is no priest.’ Then there ought to be. Every man should be a priest in his own household; and, in the absence of a godly father, the mother should lead the devotions. Every house should be the house of God, and there should be a church in every house; and when this is the case, it will be the greatest barrier against priestcraft, and the idolatry of holy places. Family prayer and the pulpit are the bulwarks of Protestantism. Depend upon it, when family piety goes down, the life of godliness will become very low. In Europe, at any rate, seeing that the Christian faith began with a converted household, we ought to seek after the conversion of all our families, and to maintain within our houses the good and holy practice of family worship. [2]

This is a radical statement for the 21^st Century. Protestantism was still very much a movement in the 19^th Century, as it should be today. Spurgeon believed the two greatest positions that influence this movement were the pulpit and the home. According to him, Christianity and the entire continent of Europe depended on whether Christian fathers and mothers would lead their homes in family worship. If the idea of family worship lacking was crucial in Europe 150 years ago, imagine the state of our country today where the practice has been nearly extinct.

In The Kind of Revival We Need, Spurgeon wrote on what he called “Domestic Religion.” Here he called for a revival among the Christian families:

We deeply want a revival of domestic religion. The Christian family was the bulwark of godliness in the days of the puritans, but in these evil times hundreds of families of so-called Christians have no family worship, no restraint upon growing sons, and no wholesome instruction or discipline. How can we hope to see the kingdom of our Lord advance when His own disciples do not teach His gospel to their own children?

Oh, Christian men and women, be thorough in what you do and know and teach! Let your families be trained in the fear of God and be yourselves ‘holiness unto the Lord’; so shall you stand like a rock amid the surging waves of error and ungodliness which rage around us.[3]

There was such a neglect of the practice that Spurgeon calls these families “so-called” Christians. It is clear to see here his understanding of family worship was to teach the gospel. He did not have a mere formal routine or activity in mind. He had the daily instruction in the gospel of a Christian father and mother to the rest of the family. And this quality was missing.

Again Spurgeon reiterated his expectation of Christians to lead their families in worship by almost questioning the sincerity of the faith if they neglect this duty.

I trust there are none here present, who profess to be followers of Christ who do not also practice prayer in their families. We may have no positive commandment for it, but we believe that it is so much in accord with the genius and spirit of the gospel, and that it is so commended by the example of the saints, that the neglect thereof is a strange inconsistency.[4]

It is implied through Scripture, since worship was required regularly, and yet the weekly custom of corporate worship did not happen until after the Babylonian Exile, late into Old Testament history.

Spurgeon feared that if the home did not teach the gospel as required, families and the church would fail in evangelizing the children.

God’s requirements for child evangelism are clear: fathers are commanded to diligently teach their children and care for their souls day by day. The sad reality of father’s lives in modern churches is that they are satisfied with Sunday schools and evangelistic crusades (which are never mentioned or commanded in scripture), but they reject God’s direct and undeniable commands to personally teach their children daily. This is outright rebellion against the Lord.[5]

Father’s are charged to care for their souls day by day, as a pastor to his church. Spurgeon recognized that Sunday schools and evangelism crusades were not mentioned in Scripture, but the duty of Christian parents is in the Bible. To neglect this duty is “outright rebellion.”

The world needs revival in this day. The Church desperately needs revival today. Families must return to the duty of family worship, in its biblical and historical sense, if this generation shall ever see revival.

Spurgeon understood the effects of the Law on a sinner, especially applied to a child from under steady training from his parents. The very essence of Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and Ephesians 6:1-4 were lived out in Spurgeon’s home and he was greatly affected. This kind of training may be the reason Spurgeon struggled with his sin from an early age.

The weight of his guilt before God weighed heavy on him. He would wonder why he never injured himself from the agony of his awareness to sin. He wrote, “I used to say, ‘If God does not send me to hell, He ought to do it.’ I sat in judgment upon myself and pronounced the sentence that I felt would be just. I could not have gone to heaven with my sin unpardoned, even if I had the offer to do it, for I justified God in my own conscience, while I condemned myself.”[1] He intimately understood his need of mercy from God. This because of his intimate knowledge of God’s Law, taught to him daily from infancy.

He understood that the Law was at work in him. His biographer, W. Y. Fullerton even called this the “Law work.” Spurgeon would describe this way, “It was like sitting at the foot of Sinai.”[2] Spurgeon would write,

When I was in the hands of the Holy Spirit, under conviction of sin, I had a clear and sharp sense of the justice of God. Sin, whatever it might be to other people, became to me an intolerable burden. It was not so much that I feared hell as that I feared sin; and all the while I had upon my mind a deep concern for the honour of God’s name and the integrity of His moral government. I felt that it would not satisfy my conscience if I could be forgiven unjustly.[3]

God was about to honor His Word, and the obedience of his parents and grandparents. He knew the Gospel well from his upbringing, but God was about to use an instrument outside of the home to secure the young man’s salvation.

On Sunday, January 6, 1850, at the age of fifteen, Charles Spurgeon woke from an unusual dream.

He rose before the sun, to pray and to read one of his bedside books. But he found no rest. As he says himself, God was plowing his soul, ten black horses in His team—the Ten Commandments—and cross-plowing it with the message of the Gospel, for when he heard it, no comfort came to his soul.[4]

He left his home that very cold day and headed to his church to worship. As he was making his way to his usually place of worship, he met a snowstorm which caused him to enter a nearby Primitive Methodist Church to worship. There he met Jesus.

It was not the place of his choice, but it was the place that God had chosen; not the morning of his hope; but the morning of God’s deliverance; not the preacher appointed for the day, who was probably snowed up, but the messenger entrusted with the key that led into the light the lad who for five weary years had been groping in the shadows.[5]

The place had no more than 15 people in it that morning. The pastor preached from Isaiah 45:22, “Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.” The preacher, with little credentials and poor pronunciation, simply called his hearers to look upon Christ. The young Spurgeon did and he was saved.

What more he said young Spurgeon never knew, for in a moment he saw the way of salvation, and was possessed by the thought of the freeness and simplicity of it. ‘I had been waiting to do fifty things,’ he said; ‘but when I heard the word ‘look,’ I could have almost looked my eyes away. I could have risen that instant and have sung with the most enthusiastic of them of the precious blood of Christ, and the simple faith that looks alone to Him. I thought I could dance all the way home. I could understand what John Bunyan meant when he declared he wanted to tell the crows on the plowed land all about his conversion. He was too full to hold. He must tell somebody.’[6]

For fifteen years Charles Spurgeon was taught and demonstrated the gospel before him by his parents and grandparents. And yet, “He thought at first that he had never heard the Gospel before, that the preachers he had listened to had not preached it.”[7] This statement is an amazing testimony to the radical nature of regeneration. He was blind (or deaf) to the gospel, and then he could see (or hear). Later “he came to see the difference between the effectual calling of God and the general proclamation of the Gospel. The word of the Lord came to him expressly that morning, as it did to Ezekiel (Ezekiel 1:3) and he was nevermore separated from his Saviour.”[8]

For part three of Spurgeon and Home-Discipleship click here.

Spurgeon’s father and grandfather were Congregationalist ministers. Each one had a lasting impact on the young Spurgeon. Within a year after Charles was born, he was sent to live with his grandfather, James Spurgeon, the minister of Stambourne. While under his grandfather’s care, Spurgeon began to gain a lasting understanding of Scripture.[2]

Before returning to his parents care at age 6, it is said that Spurgeon “had learned to love John Bunyan’s classic Pilgrim’s Progress,” a popular resource for family worship even today.[3] He would claim that he read and reread Pilgrim’s Progress over one hundred times in his lifetime.[4] “Back with his parents, he grew up in a home with strong Puritan teachings and faithful, restrained lives to match.”[5]

Family worship is a term Spurgeon used often describing the practice of home-discipleship and worship he experienced under the care of his grandparents and parents. Spurgeon’s family took responsibility on his spiritual formation. This was not thought of as the responsibility of the church. Neither, at least for him, was his education forfeited to the care of someone outside the home.

It is easy to see, in retrospect, that those early Stambourne years gave colour and bent to his whole life. It was well that he had no formal schooling (save only such elementary instruction as he could glean from old Mrs. Burleigh of the village) until he had looked out on life from the comparative solitude of Stambourne. The simplicity of his early surroundings remained with him to the end.[6]

This means that his education, like his spiritual formation, was first the priority of the home, with a view that any outside assistance only assisted what is done in the home.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon was much the product of a home that took the responsibility of home-discipleship and worship seriously. The Spurgeon home contained 8 children, 9 others did not live through infancy.[7] His mother’s prayers and devotions, while Charles’s father was away during the week, made a great impact on the boy. “Her prayers, no less than her exhortations, aroused him to concern of soul.”[8] This is a testimony to the many mothers who are home with children with an absence of a Christian husband.

Sunday evenings, especially, Mrs. Spurgeon would sit with her children around their table and read Scripture, explaining it verse by verse. She would then pray prayers, that would be etched in the mind of young Charles for the rest of his life “Once she said, ‘Now, Lord, if my children go on in their sins, it will not be from ignorance they perish, and my soul must bear swift witness against them at the day of judgment if they lay not hold of Christ.” That was not at all in the modern vein, but it was the arrow that reached the boy’s soul.”[9]

The training received at home from his grandfather, and then his mother and father helped the young Spurgeon mature rapidly as a young man. The impact of his mother’s faithfulness to family worship was very noticeable as Spurgeon grew up. He would often reflect while preaching on the diligence and concern of his parents for his salvation.

In the first sermon he published in London, he said, “There was a boy once—a very sinful child—who hearkened not to the counsel of his parents. But his mother prayed for him, and now he stands to preach to this congregation every Sabbath. And when his mother thinks of her firstborn preaching the Gospel, she reaps a glorious harvest that makes her a glad woman”.[10]

It is noted that his father’s training made quite an impact on him too. His father and grandfathers use of the Ten Commandments in his childhood raising was productive. Spurgeon acknowledges that he most likely was kept from many sins, “But all of a sudden I met Moses,” referring to the moral Law contained in the Ten Commandments.[11]

Then there came to my startled conscience the remembrance of the universality of law. I thought of what was said of the old Roman Empire, under the rule of Caesar: if a man once broke the law of Rome, the whole world was one vast prison to him, for he could never get out of the reach of the imperial power. So did it come to be in my aroused conscience.[12]

Spurgeon once said in a sermon on Romans 5:20 called “Law and Grace” on August 26, 1855, “The law causes the offence to abound by discovering sin to the soul. When once God the Holy Ghost applies the Law to the conscience, secret sins are dragged to light, little sins are magnified to their true size, and things apparently harmless become exceedingly sinful.”[13]

For part two of Spurgeon and Home-Discipleship click here.

The following is an edited transcript of the audio from Desiring God.

What are your thoughts on Halloween?

It’s kind of one of those questions of, “Do you see Christ against culture, Christ in culture, or Christ over culture?”

I would guess that at our church there would be people from one end of perspective to the other.

That is, some who say, “We don’t want anything to do with that demonic holiday! Why would you even be involved with that at all?” And others who would have their children dress up as a butterfly and go knocking on doors and say, “Trick or treat!” And then in the middle would be people who do counter events, like a thing at the church where you dress up like biblical characters and have a great time.

I’m totally OK with the middle one and the first one. And sort of OK with the second one. I grew up trick-or-treating. We were pretty serious trick-or-treaters, right into teenage years.

There isn’t much in my neighborhood. We’re kind of an inner-city neighborhood, and it’s not the most lucrative place to go knocking on doors. You’re not going to fill your bag up with the best. You better go to the suburbs if you want to get a good pile.

So I would hope that all Christians would think biblically and carefully about any holiday, any event, and how they might be salt and light in it. And if they feel like this can be of value to the kids in some way, to teach them—if it can be an innocent way of enjoying God’s grace and teaching lessons—so be it.

I’m willing to run the risk of attachment to worldliness in order to be biblically faithful in witness. The same thing with Christmas and birthdays and Easter and worshipping on Sunday. All of these things have pagan connections.

I want to be loose and broad and give freedom to believers to find their way to be most effective. So I respect those who are renouncing it as too connected with evil, and I respect those who say, “No, let’s redeem it and penetrate it and use it.”

Sometimes, something happens that is too wonderful to keep quiet.  While I usually do not share personal stories, I feel this one is appropriate to share with you, my newsletter readers.   I asked my wife, Jessica to share with you this story of my sister’s son, my nephew, who is currently at St. Mary’s Intensive Care Unit.  This traumatic event has blessed my life and helped me to better focus on what is most important.   I trust it will encourage you to do the same.  Here is my wife, Jessica, telling you the story that I title: “When the World Stopped for Jack.”  

On June 28th, around 10:30 pm, the ambulance was called for our 5 year old nephew, Jack Budensiek.  He had climbed up on a very heavy piece of furniture and it had fallen over on him, crushing his skull between it and the tile floor.  He was flown, by helicopter, to St. Mary’s hospital and the prognosis that was delivered was not a good one.  His skull had multiple fractures and his brain was bleeding and swelling.  Due to the CT scan, the doctor told Jack’s parents that he would very likely die or have severe brain damage.  Doctors started the process of drilling a hole into his skull to release pressure, and inserting a tube to try and stop the collecting of blood in his brain.

Almost immediately after the incident happened, hundreds of people heard the news due to a post sent out over Facebook, urgently requesting prayer for Jack’s life. People immediately began praying.  When the doctors finished the surgery, they were more hopeful for Jack.  They were still unsure of many things, but they were not as negative as they had been before they started the surgery.  We were all still very worried and traumatized, but were thankful we had been given more hope.  It was an answer to prayer for everyone.

After a couple of days in an induced coma, he was taken off of his medication and he seemed to be improving quite remarkably according to the doctors.  They told us he was a miracle.  They had not seen anyone there in that hospital, who had ever had those kinds of fractures to the skull, actually survive.  He began talking and moving around and even began walking.  They moved him out of ICU because he seemed to be doing so well.  We were all so thankful!  The hundreds of people who first started praying for Jack, literally had turned into thousands of people all around the world.  They were all still praying for Jack, and we all thought that he would probably get to come home fairly soon.

Then, the following Wednesday, one week and one day after that traumatic event, his mother went racing down the hall asking nurses for help.  Jack was screaming in pain and holding his head.  When the nurse came in and gave him pain medicine, he didn’t keep it down, so they tried another form to help.  His mother then tried to hold him to try to comfort him.  As she was holding him, Jack’s body grew stiff.  His hands and arms folded inward, as sign of a seizure, and his legs and feet were pointed straight.  He then flat-lined! (This was actually his second time to do so since his accident.)  Everything had stopped!  The doctors all rushed in to revive him and rushed him down to do another CT scan.  They discovered he had a massive blood clot on his brain, so he was rushed in for emergency surgery!  The doctor removed a blood clot that was three times the size of the doctor’s fist.  He could not, however, find where the blood was coming from, so he just removed the clot and closed up Jack’s little head.  He then sadly came and apologized to Jack’s mother and father, John and Ada, saying he was sorry he could not have done more for their son.  He said he did not believe Jack would ever wake up from this surgery; at best, he had a 20 percent chance.  This was devastating news!  Doctors were once again puzzled.  They had not seen something like this occur after that amount of time.  Usually, after 24 to 48 hours, things like this would happen, but not after a week!  Hearts were broken as we were all dealt another very hard blow.

However, we all kept praying.  Those thousands of people who were still helping us pray for Jack, once again, began to urgently pray and ask God to please spare Jack’s little life.  They set up a “prayer chain”, meaning there was at least someone, if not many, literally praying around the clock for our sweet Jack.  The doctors told us that the next 3 to 5 days were critical.  Waiting, especially to parents who were unsure if their little boy would ever come back from this horrible nightmare, was simply agonizing!  They prayed until they no longer could, and the thousands of others who were praying then carried all their needs to our Heavenly Father for them.

When the doctors started to take Jack off of his medications to see if there would be any response, they were still very unsure that he would wake up.  Jack woke up!  An incredible answer to prayer!  That, of course, did not mean everything was fine.  He still was on a breathing ventilator and doctors were not sure if when they took it off, his brain would connect with the function that would cause him to breathe on his own.  When they took him off the ventilator, he started breathing on his own 100 percent!  Another wonderful answer to prayer!  Jack then opened his left eye.  His burst pupil, which had occurred because of the blood clot, seemed to be recovering!  Doctors were also encouraged that he could see out of both eyes, even though his right eyelid was paralyzed and he could not open that one.  He would also move his little arms and legs at times.  These were small steps, but also small miracles.  Jack could not talk or communicate in any way.  We could not tell if anything registered with him or if he recognized anyone.  He was on a feeding tube, and you could tell by his facial expressions and small moans that he was in a lot of pain.  

Everyone continued to pray, and the number of people praying increased daily!  Then, 10 days after his second surgery, Jack’s mother, Ada, posted this message on Facebook to all of those who had been praying:  

“This is the most thankful mommy and daddy in the world right now, reporting from the hospital!  We just saw the most beautiful artwork in the WHOLE WORLD!  Our little boy, who had 20 percent chance of ever waking up, and who has basically died twice, just WROTE HIS NAME!!!!!!!!!!!!:) and drew a snowman:)  I was so excited, I even did a jumping jack for him so he could see how excited I was, and John ran out to see if the neurosurgeon was still here to show him!  We asked God for a miracle today, and some reassurance that Jack was ‘in there’ (along with all of you) and He gave it to us!  God is awesome!  To God be all the glory for this HUGE REASSURANCE today!!!!!!!  Praising God at St. Mary’s:)”

That evening, and all through the night, people specifically prayed for Jack’s speech to return.  The very next morning, after Jack woke up, he said, “Mommy, hold me.”!  His speech improved little by little!  What incredible “first words” for a mother to hear!  

Jack still had a feeding tube because he had failed many “swallowing tests”.  Everyone prayed, and asked for that specific answer to prayer.  Today, Wednesday, July, 20th, Jack not only passed the “swallow test”, he ate almost an entire large order of french fries and three chicken nuggets!  After he had eaten that, he asked for a cheeseburger!  His daddy, John, went and bought him one, and he ate half of that as well!

I will never be able to say enough about God’s unbelievable mercy, power, and love He has shown, to us, in Jack’s situation.  This is truly only a short summary of all that has occurred in the last, almost 3  and a half weeks.  The amazing group of people from all denominations, who have united together to pray, are still continuing to do so for little Jack.  Countless people have helped and given in so many ways to Jack and our whole family.  We could never say “Thank you” enough for what they have done and are still doing.  If you would like to see a history of how these people have shown such incredible support to us, you can visit the “Praying for Jack Budensiek” page on Facebook.  There are over 3500 “friends”, many who do not even know us, that heard of Jack’s accident and began to help pray for him.

This is just an incredible miracle that has happened in our lives, and we cannot sit by, and not tell everyone we can about it!  We could never praise God enough for His many blessings, and especially for little Jack, right now!  There really is power in prayer, and we truly receive strength when we lean on Him, Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  We know this to be true, because this is something we have experienced. Thank You, Lord, for Your many answered prayers, for the incredible God You are, and that You have made it known to many.
Thank you for allowing us to share this wonderful story with you.  May it encourage your heart as it has our own.

Jessica Duren

As a pastor, you should have a desire to be friends with people and be kind to them. But, If you choose to remain silent about something that concerns a person’s soul simply for fear of losing their friendship, or even their church membership, would be shameful. However, I’d be a liar if I didn’t admit that it still causes conflict in me every time. That’s why when I read the following in a message by Charles H. Spurgeon while he was about to discuss a difficult topic with his church, God used it to encourage me:

…if I should provoke some hostility—if I should through speaking what I believe to be the truth lose the friendship of some and stir up the enmity of more, I cannot help it. The burden of the Lord is upon me, and I must deliver my soul. I have been loath enough to undertake the work, but I am forced to it by an awful and overwhelming sense of solemn duty. As I am soon to appear before my Master’s bar, I will this day, if ever in my life, bear my testimony for truth, and run all risks. I am content to be cast out as evil if it must be so, but I cannot, I dare not, hold my peace. The Lord knoweth I have nothing in my heart but the purest love to the souls of those whom I feel imperatively called to rebuke sternly in the Lord’s name. Among my hearers and readers, a considerable number will censure if not condemn me, but I cannot help it. If I forfeit your love for truth’s sake I am grieved for you, but I cannot, I dare not, do otherwise. It is as much as my soul is worth to hold my peace any longer, and whether you approve or not I must speak out. Did I ever court your approbation? It is sweet to everyone to be applauded; but if for the sake of the comforts of respectability and the smiles of men any Christian minister shall keep back a part of his testimony, his Master at the last shall require it at his hands. This day, standing in the immediate presence of God, I shall speak honestly what I feel, as the Holy Spirit shall enable me; and I shall leave the matter with you to judge concerning it, as you will answer for that judgment at the last great day. (From a sermon delivered on Sunday, June 5th, 1864, by C. H. SPURGEON, at the Metropolitan Tabernacle.)

As a pastor, I don’tt regret that I love people, and appreciate their friendship. And I don’t regret the dread of seeing a person leave our church. But I’m not mistaken to think love equals the absence of offense. Sometimes the most loving actions are offensive, even when you don’t intend for them to be.

This is consistent with the gospel too. You can’t receive the “good news” that Jesus was punished for your sins unless you acknowledge the offense that you are not a good person, but a sinner. Jesus didn’t die for good people. He died for sinners. If you REALLY believed the gospel, that all have sinned (Romans 3:23) and therefore will eventually die and enter hell (Hebrews 9:27-28), the most loving thing you’d do is share this offensive message with your friends so that they might believe and be saved.

But more than this, the price pastors pay when they experience the pain of losing friends who leave the church doesn’t compare to the consequences that exist if they seek please men above God. Besides, it’s never real friendship to hide truth to keep friends.

Jack Budensiek

Many of you have said you are praying for ‘lil Jack Budensiek. We have prayed for him as a family and with the people of Providence Church. I want to update you from my last update a couple of weeks ago. Little Jack is fighting. I weep as I pray for God to spare his life and strengthen his parents. Will you join me in praying?

Here is the latest report from a relative of the family:

“11:00 am update 6/14. Jack Budensiek:

 Right now there is a lot of pain and fear at the hospital. John, Ada, and the family fear the roller coaster ride of emotions they’ve already faced, could happen again. It’s almost hard to say things are looking up, when the fear of facing that same horrible incident all over again is still looming in the back of their minds.

However, God says He inhabits the praises of his people; so we are going to step back and look at what God has done and is doing, and we are going to praise Him for those things right now!

 1.) When Jack’s accident first happened, the surgeon thought there was little hope for him. He would either die or have serious brain damage. Neither of those things happened. Doctors were amazed; God was in control.

Jack responds to mother for 1st time.

2.) The next horrible trauma then occurred. Jack was rushed in for emergency surgery where a massive blood clot was removed from his brain. The doctors gave the family no hope of Jack ever waking up from this surgery…at best, a 20% chance. The surgeon apologized to John and Ada, telling them he was sorry there was nothing more he could do for Jack! After they took him off of his induced coma state, Jack woke up!!!

 3.) They were then concerned whether or not he would breathe on his own once they took off his ventilator, wondering if his brain would connect with that function. Jack is breathing on his own, 100%, without a ventilator!!

 4.) He has responded in small ways and the doctors are now, once again, very encouraged at his progress so far, even though it is a very slow process!!

God IS in control!!!! Thank you, Lord, for what You are doing! Thank you for hearing the prayers of your people!! We still need everyone’s prayers because it is especially hard for John and Ada to see him in so much pain right now. Everyone is exhausted and this process is a difficult one to go through.

As we go through hard times, such as this, it makes me so incredibly thankful that we have God. There have been so many things in my life when I know I wouldn’t have made it the way I did, if I couldn’t have taken my circumstances to God.

Without Him, there is no hope, whether we are in a condition such as Jack, or strong and healthy. Everyone please keep praying for Jack, but also remember to help us praise Him, our incredible God, who is working…even though we may not understand, yet, all His ways! Thank you, Heavenly Father, that our sweet Jack is alive! We praise You, and we are trusting You in these dark times we do not understand! Your ways are not our ways.”

To follow updates on Jack more closely, you can go to Jack’s Facebook page.

This passage says Jesus was home. I don’t know about you, but if someone busted a whole in my roof, I’m not sure I’d remain calm and help the. Even if you could tell me that the houses in 1^st century Capernaum had roof access, like a sun roof or something, they still interrupted his sermon. The compassion Jesus had for others is striking. Without it, your religion is empty.

Jesus’ greatest concern was for people’s sin. The main reason he healed people was to help people with their sin. And often times He helped societies biggest sinners, even when it was unpopular to do. To top it off, the people He helped weren’t always looking for the kind of help He offered. These men were not looking for forgiveness, but help for their friend. Jesus helped people who were not looking for forgiveness.

God, give us gospel growth to become compassionate people. Have you ever turned someone away because they were not interested in your message? Do you think people must show interest in God in order for it to be right to help them? That may be acceptable for empty religion, but its not consistent with the gospel. When was the last time you helped someone who was hard to like? When was the last time you took care of someone’s physical needs while patiently trying to help them understand the gospel and their need for forgiveness? If we are really growing in the gospel, compassion will be a characteristic people will see in us. Otherwise, we are just settling for empty religion.

Jesus requires faith alone for salvation. But religion requires faith plus works. The work of these men was evidence of their faith. These men were not working for Jesus’ help. They were willing to do anything, go anywhere, because they had faith in Jesus. They were convinced Jesus could help, enough that they were willing to remove all obstacles. They didn’t think Jesus would help their friend based on their efforts. They came desperate for help, believing Jesus was able.

These men didn’t even talk. There is nothing mentioned that we could even use as a model prayer. They just trusted! And that’s all that mattered to Jesus.

Religion tries to replace faith alone with works, or add works to faith alone. Christians must take care not to do this.  Salvation is not dependent on the quality of our quiet times, our giving records, or our ability not to sin. And our salvation is not dependant on water baptism or church attendance. Its only when we really understand this, that God finds pleasure in us when we trust Jesus’ works (not ours), that all these duties get easier to do. Unfortunately though, the temptation to add things to faith in Jesus alone is real. When that happens, you find yourself in empty religion, and out of fellowship with God.

It was also a powerful example of prayer. Immediately, I began to hear positive reports about little John. I found his uncle’s Facebook page to read the hour-by-hour updates. Little John’s family are Christians and they have a strong prayer network around them. As a father of a 5-yr-old, the thought of the accident anguished me. Within days, ‘lil John’s uncle posted a moving picture of John responding to his mother for the first time. The sight was awesome, though his injuries were painfully visible.

Tuesday, ‘lil John’s father sent out this note to his colleagues & friends, and it is a great report of God answering prayers:

I just wanted to take a minute and personally thank all of you who have been praying for Jack. God has worked one miracle after another in Jack’s life that the doctors did not even think were possible. As soon as I lifted the object which fell onto Jack’s head and body, both my wife and I knew he was in bad shape and thought he might not survive. At the hospital, both the trauma doctor and the neurosurgeon met with us and described Jacks injury as the worst kind of skull fracture that a person can sustain. The doctors showed us the CAT scan of the bleeding and the air accumulation that was already taking place in and around the skull and said that it only made sense to expect more bleeding and bruising based on the severe injury to the skull and a tear in the sack around the brain which holds the brain, spinal fluid etc. The doctor drilled a hole in Jack’s skull and installed a device used to measure pressure inside the skull. The doctor was pleasantly surprised that the pressure was almost normal. The doctor warned us that he expected significant swelling around the brain and would not know the extent of the damage to the brain for at least 48 hours to five days. Because of God’s divine intervention, and as a result of all your prayers and the prayers of many others, that swelling never got worse than what the initial CAT scan showed, but instead got better. The swelling outside of the skull however made Jack’s head swell behind his right ear until his head was sticking out almost as far as his ear. Within 50 hours of the accident, the doctor was having the ventilator removed from Jack to see if he could breath on his own, which he did with no problem. On Friday the doctor told my wife and I that he had never had a patient survive with the type of skull fracture (multiple fractures) Jack has. I could go on and on about all of the miracles that have happened to Jack as a result of everyone praying. To make this short, I will say that Jack is doing very good considering all the broken bones in his head. The doctor is no longer worried about swelling around the brain and has taken Jack off of narcotics in an effort to force him to thrive. While it is painful for me to watch, Jack has shown us that his motor skills, along with his short and long term memory are good.  Only by God’s grace, it appears that once Jack’s skull and face heal he could be completely normal.

I have signed a lot of cards over the years, along  with giving my ten or twenty dollars to various people who were sick or had recently lost a loved one. I never knew how much all of that meant until something traumatic happened to my family. The support, the cards and the money have been a huge and needed blessing to my family.

Again I want to give God the glory for working in Jack’s life. Please continue to pray for Jack, he still has a long way to go before he is fully recovered.

Thanks to all my friends, and twitter acquaintances, for praying. It has been an awesome encouragement and testimony to my brother. Please continue to pray. Just moments after I rec’d this note, I also rec’d a text saying ‘lil John just had a seizure this morning and is being rushed into emergency surgery. Please continue to pray.